In recent years, there has been growing interest in low temperature plasma technology in a wide range of fields. For example, this low temperature plasma has been used to modify the surface properties of a material. Low temperature plasma can also be used to clean and sterilize the surface and air of a substance, and is expected to be used in the medical and food fields.
The low temperature plasma can be generated by causing a dielectric barrier discharge. A piezoelectric transformer is widely used to cause this dielectric barrier discharge. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which an AC voltage is applied to the input side of the piezoelectric transformer, and a high voltage is generated on the output side, and a dielectric barrier discharge is generated by the high voltage. Furthermore, in this document, gas molecules in the air are ionized by the plasma generated by the dielectric barrier discharge to generate an ion for ionization.
In addition, the development of compact, lightweight, portable products is required for such plasma generators and ion generators. Also, since the low temperature plasma can be utilized for various applications, it is preferable that the amount of plasma generation can be adjusted according to the application.